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Board of Education Recap July 12th, 2017

News from Sheridan School District No. 2

Contact: Mark Stevens

[email protected]

303-495-8699 (mobile) • 720-328-5488 (office)

News Release

July 12, 2017

2017 Election Season Coming Up; All Five Board of Education Seats Open

Candidates interested in running for one of the five open seats on the Sheridan Board of Education this fall may begin circulating nomination petitions on Wednesday, Aug. 9.

Superintendent Michael Clough reviewed a few of the new election procedures for the board at its meeting last night (Tuesday, July 11). Since Sheridan School District 2 serves more than 1,000 students, would-be candidates must secure signatures from 50 eligible electors by Sept. 1.

The board formally appointed Polly Plancarte, who serves as both secretary to the board and executive assistant to Superintendent Clough, as the designated election official. She will answer questions for candidates, verify petitions, and ensure candidates are aware of all the reporting requirements.

The school board election in Sheridan will be run as a coordinated election with Arapahoe County. Sheridan has five director districts and candidates run from one of five regions—A, B, C, D, and E. Director districts A, C, and E will elect candidates to serve four-year terms. Candidates from districts D and B will serve two-year terms. The district B seat, however, has been vacant since 2009.

Board Retreat

The board will hold a retreat on July 25 and July 26 in Colorado Springs. Discussion items include the timeline for the search and selection of a new superintendent. (Superintendent Clough has announced he will pursue other interests after his contract expires in June, 2018. He was brought back to continue serving as superintendent on a limited basis even after officially retiring two years ago.)

New Data and Assessment Manager

Superintendent Clough introduced Dr. Kirk Henwood, the district’s new Data and Assessment Manager. Henwood was previously Deputy Superintendent for Montrose County School District RE-1J.

Medicaid Application

The district is preparing an application to receive reimbursements for services provided to students eligible for Medicaid. Special Education director Jenny Pilger, who is pulling together the application, was lauded for her work on the project by Superintendent Clough.

Kindergarten Ready

Dr. Lara Eddy, Director of Student Achievement, reviewed the Kindergarten Ready Summer Academy for the board. The program is in its fifth year and provides a “kinder, gentler” way to introduce incoming kindergarten students to their new school, said Eddy. The Kindergarten Ready Summer Academy runs half-days for nine days through Friday, July 21. This year, 26 students are taking advantage of it, including free transportation and free meals. Teachers familiarize kindergarteners with the routines at Alice Terry Elementary School and introduce some academics, too.

Communities That Care

Sheridan School District 2 is working with Communities That Care, an extensive program that seeks to help youth with behavior choices and prevent problems before they develop. Deputy Superintendent Jackie Webb reviewed the general concept of “CTC.” There are five phases to the work. They include Get Started (activate community to start the process); Get Organized (form a coalition and board to support the work); Create a Community Profile (study data including health and behavior problems, risk factors); Create A Plan; Implement and Evaluate the work.

Flawless Pupil Count

Superintendent Clough announced that Sheridan School District received a “no exceptions” result from its pupil count audit, meaning the data was perfect. “In twenty-five years as an administrator,” he said, “I’ve never had that happen.” He thanked all the school and district staff who worked on this year’s effort. “It’s an unbelievably huge undertaking,” he said. “It is a massive project.”

New Foods

Sheridan’s new food service director, Kim Butler, said the district will be introducing many new menu items and doing much more cooking from scratch at school sites this coming school year.

An afternoon snack program is also on the way, following a pilot last year at Fort Logan Northgate School.

New items include tangerine chicken, improved hamburgers and cheeseburgers cooked on the school premises, flatbread chicken sandwiches, shepherd’s pie, taco salads, Thai sweet chili chicken bowl, and more fresh fruits and vegetables. New breakfast options include homemade cinnamon rolls, biscuits and gravy, and homemade breakfast burritos. Food service staff will monitor what students like and change-out items that aren’t meeting approval. “We will continuously test new products so we are serving products that the kids really enjoy,” said Butler.

Chromebooks

Jolie Baty, Information Technology technician, reviewed this summer’s Chromebook program, which is putting laptops in the hands of young students to keep up their reading skills over the summer. Money for the program was raised through a huge fundraiser in May organized by Vibha. The Chromebooks are loaded with the myOn Reading Program. Students take a test to determine their reading level and then books are selected that match each student’s interests and reading skills. Students repeat the process occasionally to check their progress in reading comprehension. Baty said one student has already read 93 books this summer. Superintendent Clough and Deputy Superintendent Webb thanked Baty for her quick work getting the program up and running and also for the many improvements she has made to the district’s website.

Consent Agenda

All consent agenda items were approved.

About Sheridan School District 2

Located southwest of Denver, Sheridan School District 2 seeks high-level post-secondary options for all students through continuous improvement of quality instruction. More: www.ssd2.org

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